Innovation as a "transitional iteration"

Over a year ago

by Dominic Basulto

In the current issue of New York Magazine, Kurt Andersen describes the changing dynamics of the media business, with a focus on how established media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post are dealing with the explosion in popularity of online video. Should these mainstream media giants attempt to out-maneuver the likes of YouTube -- or should they just see where the process of Endless Innovation takes them?

"We think we know that the professional news media, especially
newspapers, are obsolete, that the future is all about (excuse the
expression) you—media created by amateurs. But such PowerPoint
distillation tends to overlook the fact that mainstream media are not
all simply shriveling and dying but in some instances actually
evolving. And in evolution, there are always fascinating transitional
iterations along the way. Such as newspapers’ suddenly proliferating
forays into online video."

The imagery is fantastic - in a single phrase, Kurt coveys that evolution is a dynamic, recursive process that produces all kinds of interesting mutations along the way. These "transitional iterations" are tiny little incremental steps that are part of a much larger evolutionary picture.